Six US film studios sue Chinese Internet company: report

AGENCIESMar 13, 2008, 05.51pm IST

BEIJING: Six US film studios have sued a Chinese Internet company for allegedly violating the copyrights on several of their movies, state media reported on Thursday.

Xunlei Networking Technology Co, in which US search engine Google has held a stake since early last year, has been taken to court by six members of the Motion Picture Association, the Beijing News said.

The studios are 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios. The case was filed in a Shanghai court, the report said.

The studios claim around one million dollars in damages. Movies affected include Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Click and Stealth.

Xunlei said the piracy charge was groundless because what the company provided was only a download tool, and the movies and other related documents were uploaded by its users and partners, the newspaper said.

Google acquired a share in Xunlei last year. According to unconfirmed reports, it paid five million dollars for a four-percent stake.

Movie piracy is rampant in China, with one incentive being provided by the government, which allows just 20 foreign films to be shown in the country's cinemas each year.

The United States announced in April last year that it had filed legal action against China before the World Trade Organisation over copyright infringements and the country's import barriers to foreign music, films and books.